As a rock fan, I was on the verge of tears watching Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, accompanied by Jason Bonham on drums, perform Stairway to Heaven as the finale of a star-studded musical tribute to Led Zeppelin during the recent Kennedy Center Honors broadcast on CBS.

One of my favourite moments came at the beginning, when the three members of Zeppelin in attendance — Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones — had big smiles and a look of surprise on their faces when their late drummer John Bonham’s son Jason took the stage.

“Yeah, it was all very hush-hush, so it would be a surprise for Robert, Jimmy and John Paul,” Jason Bonham recently told me when I interviewed him for an article in Rock Cellar

Magazine.

“It almost got out of the bag, though, as I was standing around backstage and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) goes, ‘You’re not supposed to be here, right?’ And I said, ‘Yeah,’ and Dave goes, ‘Quick, jump behind the couch then.’

“So I did, just a second before John Paul walks in the room. Amazingly, I dived over the couch and hid behind it just in time (laughs). It was a pretty funny sight, me hiding behind a couch as John Paul and Dave stood there talking, until John Paul left the room. But it almost blew the surprise.”

Jason Bonham kicks off the 2013 leg of “The Led Zeppelin Experience” tour at London’s Centennial Hall tonight and returns to Kitchener’s Centre in the Square this Friday. Accompanied by atmospheric video and mesmerizing lighting effects, the show highlights the unique history Jason Bonham shares with the iconic rock quartet, cranking out all the classics like Black Dog, Whole Lotta Love, Good Times Bad Times, Thank You, The Immigrant Song, Moby Dick, Kashmir, and of course, Stairway to Heaven.

I asked Bonham what it was like performing Stairway to Heaven on stage with the Wilson sisters, backed by an orchestra featuring string and horn sections, along with a gospel choir.

“When you take on something like Stairway to Heaven, it’s very risky, as I’ve always felt it’s like touching a masterpiece,” he told me. “But I haven’t read anything but great comments about the performance. Heart was fantastic, I think the band was fantastic and to be able to play with Lou (Marini), the sax player who was with the Blues Brothers, and that orchestra and choir was just phenomenal. The song just kept building, and got bigger and bigger and bigger.”

It certainly did, as the Wilson sisters and Bonham knocked it out of the park, leaving John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and especially Robert Plant misty-eyed and grooving as they watched from the balcony.

“It was a tremendous thing,” said Bonham. “Seeing it now gives me goosebumps and it gets me really choked up just talking about it. The music Zeppelin created is timeless. And that’s one of the reasons I keep doing the Led Zeppelin Experience, along with the fact that, when my dad was alive, I never got to tell my father what an incredible influence he had on me and just how great he truly was.”

Thanks to Jason and the enduring legacy of Led Zeppelin, John Bonham’s undying influence continues to reach new generations.

•••

Marshall Ward is a visual artist and music writer for Rock Cellar Magazine. Email is welcome at marshall_ward@hotmail.com